Tara Nolan
I had no plan to be a yoga teacher, ever. Yoga happened to me and possibly saved me. With the benefits, transformation and fulfillment yoga has brought to my life, I now feel compelled and honored to share it with others, only hoping they will receive even some of the numerous gifts yoga has given me. I was working in the corporate world, eight years in one company, and had just moved up the ranks into a demanding management position, working out of Chicago but living half my life in Milwaukee. Needless to say my life was stressful. Even though the days were full, life was empty. Yoga asana classes were my one chance of relief to bring some calm, focus and personal strength to my day. Eventually I left the management position to travel the world. The “spiritual” side of yoga that I had heard of but never really understood intrigued me. In addition, I wanted to practice yoga while I traveled but it was often difficult to find a class and all were never in English. I began to study yoga along my journey around the world, starting with a retreat on a Brazilian island, to classes in Buenos Aires, ending with an intensive one-month teacher training in Bali, Indonesia. I enrolled in the teacher training planning to deepen my own practice and be able to take my yoga with me wherever I went. However, I received much more than I had ever anticipated. I studied with yoga experts from different schools of yoga from London, Australia, India and the U.S. I learned the history of yoga in India, the anatomy of the body, how to structure a class, but what I loved the most is that I learned how yoga is not a physical exercise, but a way of life. I found the inspiration to be a better person and to live my best life, to help me to find the healthiest life for my physical body as well as my mind and spirit. I learned the physical practice, or "asana" is only one of the eight limbs of yoga and I began to deeply explore and practice the other seven. Since traveling, I continue to constantly attend Yoga Journal Conferences, retreats, and teacher training's everywhere that I can. I continue to read and deepen my study of the practice of yoga, realizing there is an unending journey to its knowledge. I continue the study to always improve my own life, but more so, my passion is now to share this gift with others. Life is short and I know I want to experience the most joy out of this beautiful gift of life that has been given to me. I know that I have a purpose in this life. I sincerely, whole-hearted only can hope I can help others to find their purpose and to share this gift with others, the gift of yoga.
